updated 01:30 pm EDT, Tue September 3, 2013

Activations surpass 1 billion

Google is now teasing its next major Android release, version 4.4. The update will continue the company's confectionery naming theme, adopting the monicker KitKat from the popular Nestle wafers. Alongside the versioning announcement, senior vice president Sundar Pichai also published a Google+ post noting that Android devices have surpassed a billion activations.

"Love the new #AndroidKitKat statue and can't wait to release the next version of the platform that is as sweet as the candy bar that's one of our team's favorites," Pichai added.

A teaser page navigates through the history of builds, starting with Cupcake and continuing up to the current Jelly Bean edition. The company chose not to give new names to Android 4.2 and Android 4.3, which were viewed as minor incremental updates rather than major releases.

Interestingly, most of the rumors have pointed to Android 5.0 as the next name-worthy upgrade, expected to be called Key Lime Pie. Rumors circulating in April suggested developers were encountering delays with their work on v5.0, and the release was not previewed at the company's I/O conference later in the year.

The company has yet to fully detail the new features that will be included in Android 4.4. Release timing also remains unclear.